Sanitation issue rocks the House as Mohali councillors meet after 5 months

Congress councillor Rupinder Kaur said the condition is so bad that residents have had to hire a private sweeper for ₹12,000 per month.

Pandemonium prevailed in the Mohali municipal corporation (MC) House on Friday as councillors raised the issue of poor sanitation in the city during the meeting that was held after a gap of nearly five months.

Mohali mayor Amarjeet Singh Sidhu during the House meet on Friday. (HT Photo)

Stating that the city has gone to the dogs, the councillors demanded that the sanitation issue be resolved at the earliest.

Congress councillor Rupinder Kaur said the condition is so bad that residents have had to hire a private sweeper for ₹12,000 per month.

Mechanical sweeping tenders allotted

The House on Friday finally allotted the tenders for mechanical sweeping to Global Waste Management firm at a cost ₹41.54 crore for three years. The agenda was unanimously approved.

Mayor Amarjit Singh Sudhu said the company will sweep 217 km daily (roads) and with the approval of the House, work orders will be issued to the company.

Congress councillor Vineet Malik said highlighted the shortage of sanitation workers, stating that at present, the civic body has deployed 500 sanitation workers while there is a requirement of around 1,300. He added that the civic body had hired around 650 workers but 150 of them had left and only 500 are currently working.

Advertising sites divided into four zones

With the MC failing to get any bidder for 339 advertising sites, which were floated for ₹30 crore, the House on Friday approved to divide the advertisements into four zones.

Deputy mayor Kuljeet Singh Bedi said that with the advertisements divided into four zones, it will be easy for small players to participate, and the MC will earn good revenue from it.

Oppn raised issue long gap between House meetings

The Opposition councillors raised the issue of the long gap of five months between the House meetings. Councillor Sukhdev Singh Patwari also brought a paper on the MC Act, which states that the House meeting must be convened at least once a month.

Former deputy mayor and councillor from ward number 2 seconded the objection which was raised in unison by all councillors of the House.

Mayor Amarjit Singh Sidhu said, “He did not get any files from the councillors for holding the house meeting for five months.”

Former deputy mayor Manjit Singh while countering the reasoning said, “As per the MC Act, there is no need to wait for files for holding the House meeting. It is a councillors’ affair which is held for discussing the developmental agendas and must be held every month.”